


Cigarette Lessons

by vincen0ir



Category: The Mighty Boosh
Genre: F/F, basically they're chicks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-20
Updated: 2014-02-20
Packaged: 2018-01-13 04:06:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1212082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vincen0ir/pseuds/vincen0ir
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I don't know how to describe this. Evolutionish, I guess?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cigarette Lessons

Dark clouds are slowly rolling their way over the usually docile sky, giving it a menacing touch. Julian can't help but grin.

Her skinny legs are thrown over the top of the roof, but the cold touch of the tin has lost it's effect on the 17-year-old girl. Raising one hand, she ruffles it through her shaggy brown locks before lighting up the cigarette that is hanging between her lips.

She shouldn't be smoking - she promised her mother that she'd stop, but it's not like you can just quit habits. Once the end of the nicotine stick is lit and glowing, she inhales briefly. Julian's thoughts turn to her mother, washed out and worn but with a smile still lighting up her face. They've been through a lot and they'll still have to face a whole lot more, but they're tough. They can do it.

Casting her eyes upwards, she removes her cigarette from her lips for a minute before exhaling, shaking her head as she does so. The poisoned oxygen lasts only seconds in the cold air before it fades away, leaving it's patterns and swirls as only a fleeting memory in Julian's mind.

Everything is quiet for a moment, then the sound of someone else's presence stirs the teenage girl from her light daze. When she looks behind her, all that's visible is a mess of dark hair and an accent that drops it's 'g' when it swears.

"Fuckin' hell.." 

Exhaling another cloud of smoke, Julian raises a brow and twists her torso so that she's half-facing the figure that's now hoisting itself onto the roof, the pale knuckles that are attached to it going pure white with effort. 

"Who the hell are you..? Why are you on my roof?"

By now, the figure - a dark-haired girl - has clambered onto the roof and is edging her way towards Julian, lip caught between dazzlingly white teeth in concentration. Once she's parked herself down, the other girl grins and nods her head.

"I'm Noel, me and my dad just moved in next door and your mum invited us round. Didn't she tell you?"

Julian vaguely remembers her mother telling her that they were getting new neighbours, but it's not like anything besides music and reading really sticks in her head. Right now, her attention is focused on Noel. Besides a shock of inky black locks that carry the faintest smell of incense and raspberry shampoo, the other girl has bright blue eyes, framed by dark, thick lashes. She's dressed in a leather jacket, beaten-up and adorned with badges, and a pair of jeans that are torn in just about every place possible. She looks cool, achingly so - but not overtly, like she's trying too hard. Julian wants to shrink away in her white polo short and denim shorts.

"You smoke? Can I have one?" Noel's eyes are now focused on the cigarette that's still smoldering, hanging slack from the corner of Julian's jaw. Unconsciously, she uprights it before picking it out, breath illuminated by clouds of smoke as she speaks.

"Have you ever smoked before?"

"No, but it's gotta be easy, right?" Her tone of voice is eager, chipper. 

"Christ, how old are you? I can't give you one if you're twelve." Julian's eyebrows have shot into her hairline now as she stares at Noel. She's attractive, in a weird way. She's bound to have broken a nose, and the eyeliner that expertly coats the bottom lids of her eyes is starting to smudge.

"Fuck off, I'm sixteen!" At Noel's cry of protest, Julian releases a husky laugh and shakes her head. Slowly, she withdraws another cigarette, handing it to the younger female before fishing around in her pocket for a lighter. With precision, Noel pops the filter between her bitten lips and accepts the lighter that's been handed to her. When she lights it and grey smoke begins to pour recklessly from the end, she inhales - and begins to cough. Julian can't help but laugh, and loudly at that.

"Shut up! Jesus, these things are foul." Once she's finished spluttering, Noel goes in for a second drag, which turns out to be easier. She doesn't try to swallow the smoke down this time, and just exhales it. Julian nods in vague approval, a small smile threatening to upturn the corners of her lips.

"So, why'd you move here?" Julian waves a hand at the quiet street, licking over her lips before taking a short drag off her own cigarette. "It's boring as hell."

"Don't ask me, ask my dad. He's the one that told me that moving to Dorston would be 'fun' or whatever." Noel shakes her head dismissively before wincing slightly as she coughs a little, just holding her cigarette for a minute, gazing out over the open street. "At least London had atmosphere, and it was kind of fun."

"True," Julian echoes as she too gazes off, losing herself in the rows of houses with identical handkerchief lawns, each decorated differently. Noel reaches up and tangles her slender fingers in her hair, tugging at it for a moment.

"So, what's your name? I've bummed a cigarette off you, and I don't even know who you are."

"Julian." She extends a hand, fingers calloused from the guitar playing, and the writing, and the general work she's been doing recently. Noel shakes her hand and it's the first real touch they've had. Noel's hand is cold and smooth, whereas Julian's is rough and warm. Almost as soon as they pull back, a cold drop of rain hits Noel square in the nose. Another one lands on Julian's forehead and before either girl knows it, the rain is hard and fast. Their cigarettes are cold, soggy and forgotten as they scramble to slide back into the warmth of the house, where their parents are laughing quietly at some joke they haven't heard. Once they're safe inside the confines of Julian's room, Noel's eyebrow perks up, glancing around slightly.

"Weather Report? Louis Armstrong? .. Wait, the Stones? Those three names should never, ever, ever go together." She's biting back a laugh as she shakes her head, striding round in an attempt to dry off, hands rubbing through her hair.

"Fuck off, they're all good!" Julian's a bit protective over her music taste but this time she just shakes it off before grabbing a black V-neck from her wardrobe and a clean pair of jeans, shoving Noel out of the room before changing.

Admittedly, looking at the other girl has given Julian some doubt in her looks. Her eyeliner has smudged significantly since the rain started, and it's bogged down her hair. Her eyes look even smaller than usual, and god, she can't stop looking in the stupid fucking mirror even though it's pissing her off.

Once she's dressed in warm clothes, she heads downstairs to find Noel sat in the kitchen, a steaming mug of tea in her hands. 

"Are you ever gonna stop nicking my stuff?" Julian jokes as she turns to the counter, attending to her own tea.

"Nah, I don't think so." Julian hasn't noticed at first but Noel's got a book perched in front of her, and a wide grin has curled up the corner of her lips as her intelligent blue eyes scan over the scratched words that litter the page.

"What are you r- oh my god, is that what I think it is? Give it here!" An indignant blush has colored Julian's cheeks as she fights Noel for the book, arms twisting and tangling together in a violent tango for the Moleskine notebook.

"This stuff's genius! You didn't tell me you wrote!" Noel's eyes widen as she nods furiously, a sincere expression now taking over her features. Julian shakes her head before stuffing it in her pocket, head down as she stirs her tea.

"I don't. Not any more."

**

After she finishes her tea, Noel ends up leaving. By then, the rain is pelting down and Julian is sat cross-legged on her bed, guitar in her lap. She can't stop thinking back to the dark-haired girl and how honest she was being when she said that the scribblings that filled the pages of the book that sat in front of Julian was good. It made the brunette want to pick up a pen, start writing again. 

Meanwhile, Noel was in a similar position - she was drying off her hair, mind buzzing at a million miles per hour. The words that she'd scanned over were sticking in her head and the dramatic side of her was taking over, planning things, analyzing the scenes she'd observed. When she's yanked on sweatpants and a fresh shirt, she throws herself down onto her bed and within minutes, her phone has buzzed.

New Text: how did you know i'd pick this up? -j

Smirking widely, she quickly texts back an answer. When Julian glances at her phone, her brows crease.

New Text: i know people sweetheart x

**

It doesn't take the two girls long to become inseparable. Soon enough, Noel is at Julian's house every other day, and Julian is at Noel's, and they're nicking clothes off each other - not to mention cigarettes. Julian has slowly taught Noel to smoke, conducting lessons in the half-abandoned park, on the roof, on the way home from school. 

It's a month into their friendship when Julian learns that Noel isn't into guys. Some part of her rejoices - she won't trade me out for a guy now, she thinks. Another part of her wants to ask why, but the more practical side squashes that little question down just as easily as she crushes cigarette butts under the heel of her worn-out Converse.

They're in the park one dusky afternoon, smoking of course, when Noel brings up the book - the book that she wrote her phone number in the first time they met. 

"Hey, Ju?" 

"Mhm?"

"Do you reckon you'd write somethin' for me? Like, I'm not askin' for a masterpiece but I wanna see how you write. Y'see, I wrote too, when we lived in London, and I kinda wanna see if your stuff is the same as mine. What I read was genius, y'know, really good." Eyes heavily clad in black today, Noel glances up at Julian, whose hair is hanging in her face as she strums aimlessly at her guitar in a tune that sounds somewhat similar to Heart Shaped Box.

"Yeah, maybe. Why did you read that, anyway? There were so many other things in that room but you went for that, you neon freak." Julian snorts out a laugh at her last comment - over the month that they've gotten to know each other Noel's extravagant fashion sense has been brought to life in sparkles, glitter, things that should be in Kate Bush videos. Now, though, she's dressed simply - a navy blue sweater, dark grey jeans that have faded at the knees, and skeleton-printed Doc Martens. She's picking away at the remnants of black nail polish, leaving only chipped fragments.

"Because it looked interesting, I dunno. Plus, I was kinda sopping wet."

"The rain wasn't that hard, Fielding. Man up."

"Bite me, Barratt."

"That's a good nickname, that one."

Noel just laughs, and for a moment it's really, really quiet. Only the sound of crickets is audible and even then it's faded and dim, only a backing track. Laying back on the slightly damp grass, Julian takes her place besides Noel, guitar gently placed a good three feet away.

"Why'd you climb in through my window, anyway?"

"Because your mum told me to."

**

 

During the fourth month of their friendship, Noel starts looking at Julian in a different light. When the elder girl will pull her shirt off when they're changing together, Noel's eyes will linger a little too long on the elaborate lace of her bra. Julian never notices, though - she's very careful about that. She's careful to hide every feeling, any hint of peculiar emotion. Little does she know that Julian feels similar, but that's the way life works.

There's something about the way that Noel gnaws on her lip that sucks Julian in, whisking her mind off to a place where she wonders about the way Noel kisses - maybe she's one of those kinds of people that like it to lead somewhere, or maybe she'd be happy with lying underneath a thin sheet, trading lazy kisses while rain patters slowly down on the roof. 

When they're together next, it's when their parents have gone off for an evening together. They're good friends now, almost as close and Julian and Noel themselves. The two girls have spread themselves across the sofa, bottles of Coke and bags of crips lying around them. Noel is popping her peppermint gum, and Julian's tracing the rim of a bottle of beer that she got off Noel's dad. An episode of America's Next Top Model is droning on in front, but neither teenager is really paying attention - Julian is writing out page upon page of lyrics in her head, and Noel I s watching the way she does it.

"Hey, Ju?" Noel's quiet words draw the other girl out from her daze.

"Mm?"

"Have you ever, y'know, kissed someone?" A blush livens up Noel's pale cheeks. She ducks her head almost instantly after, running a hand through her hair, grabbing it and giving off a short, sharp yank. 

"Um, yeah, but that was once." Julian grins slightly as she remembers her first kiss - it was with Dave, whose real name is Davina. It was behind the bike sheds, and it was for a dare. Still, Dave was a good kisser.

"I've never.." Stuttering out the beginning of her sentence, Noel shakes her head before downing a sip of Coke, shaking her head again. If there was ever a time to pounce, it was now - and Julian's picking up on it. Sitting up, she moves to perch on the edge of the armchair that Noel's curled herself into.

"I'll give you lessons," Julian smirks before leaning in and tucking a hand under Noel's chin before forcing the younger girl's head up crashing their lips together. The tastes of peppermint, Coke and beer collide in a mixture that shouldn't be anywhere as gorgeous and tantalizing as it is right now. Noel's reached up to wrap her arm round Julian's waist, pulling her down slightly. Before long, Julian's found her way to Noel's lap, and their lips have never broken apart. It's gone from gentle kissing to full-on snogging now, tongues brushing against each other, harsh nips of the opposite bottom lips. Julian's hands are resting on Noel's nips, fingers pushing under her shirt to meet the warm skin underneath. A small, breathless gasp leaves the darker-haired girl's mouth, falling into Julian's. The sound of the door unlocking doesn't seem to bother them a neither move. Julian's mum totters in, steps into the room, then steps out. They've never been more glad about the fact that their parents are drunk in their lives.

They relocate to Julian's bed, jeans and sweater being shed on the floor. Noel looks electric, in the elder's opinion - with kiss-swollen lips and pale, bare skin, she's never looked so gorgeous. They don't get up to much that night - more kisses are exchanged and a mutual agreement is reached - Noel's staying the night again.

The other times they've had sleepovers and slept in the same bed, it's been different. This time, they're in almost nothing but bare skin, intimate and radiating heat. Noel's never felt so much pressure to match up her breathing with someone else's - it's pressure, but it's the good kind. It's the kind that weighs down your hips. It's the kind of pressure that you feel when someone is straddling your hips and pressing desperate kisses to your lips.

**

A few weeks later, they finally do it. Their parents are out again, except they warned the two girls that they wouldn't be home until the early hours of the morning.

It's only a few minutes after the doors close that they attack each other, lips moving in a frantic hurry. Their noses bump and collide - it's a messy kiss, but it's not really meant to be romantic at this point.

Grabbing hold of Noel's hand, Julian pulls the other girl to the staircase that leads to her bedroom, their own personal heaven right now. It's the only time their lips break apart - once they're safe inside locked doors, hell breaks loose between their lips.

Julian trails searing kisses down Noel's neck, stopping at her prominent collarbone. Slowly but surely, she stains it with a purpling bruise, something that the darker-haired girl won't be able to cover up with just makeup. She'll have to wear scarves for weeks, high-collared shirts that leave everything to the imagination. 

Noel breaks away, pushing Julian down onto the bed before straddling her hips, working her shirt off to expose black lace - god dammit, she's had this planned. She pushes down her jeans to show off matching panties and Jesus, the sound of their hearts pounding could rival a sonic boom.

Julian feels underdressed, in a silky black bra and a pair of dark purple panties she yanked on in a half-asleep daze this morning. Noel doesn't seem to mind - she's peppering kisses down Julian's throat, nimble fingers fussing about with her bra strap. Despite being ridiculously close, Noel has never seen Julian properly naked before - personally, she thinks she's never seen anything so beautiful.

That's the overwhelming theme of the evening - beautiful. It's not desperate or hot, it's just beautiful and slow. Afterwards, when they're dressed in oversized shirts and trading lazy kisses, Julian asks Noel the question she's been waiting to ask for quite a while now - if it isn't too much trouble does Noel think she can handle being her girlfriend?

**

Exactly one year to the day they met, they're sitting on the roof again. A cigarette is slung between each girl's lips. Noel is dressed in the same leather jacket, and Julian's legs are barely covered by the same denim shorts. Their hands are locked together - Julian's nails go unpainted, Noel's are covered in a layer of turquoise polish. Noel's smoking as expertly as Julian now - inhaling cancer, blowing it out like it never even mattered anyway. If they're going to die of lung cancer. They'll die in leather and denim and they'll look raffish, dangerous, and in love.

Together, they watch a storm roll over the Dorston skyline.


End file.
